Pennsylvania talent fuels unbeaten US women's field hockey

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India's Namita Toppo, left, fights for the ball with United States' Kelsey Kolojejchick during a women's field hockey match at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)

India's Sunita Lakra, right, fights for the ball with United States' Katie Bam during a women's field hockey match at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)

United States' Lauren Crandall, right, fights for the ball with India's Namita Toppo during a women's field hockey match at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)

United States' Katie Bam look up towards the screen after her team requested a video referral during a women's field hockey match againstIndia at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)

United States' Alyssa Manley , left, fights for the ball India's Monika during a women's field hockey match at with the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)

United States' Jill Witmer, right, fights for the ball to try to score as India's goalkeeper Savita Savita defends during a women's field hockey match at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Take a glance at the Olympic roster for the United States women's field hockey team, and you'll notice a recurring theme — 12 of the 25 players on the undefeated squad are from Pennsylvania.

The state's success in the sport goes back decades. Beth Anders, the leading overall women's scorer at the 1984 Olympics, is from Norristown. Ten of the 16 players on that bronze-medal winning team were from Pennsylvania.

The Americans now seek their first medal since that run in Los Angeles. They play Britain on Saturday to determine which team will win Pool B. After that, they'll play in the quarterfinals.

If the United States returns to the podium, the Keystone State will have played a major role. The top American standouts at this year's games — forward Katie Bam (Blue Bell) and goalie Jackie Briggs (Robesonia) — are from there.

"To a large degree, it's self-fulfilling," USA field hockey executive director Simon Hoskins said. "The elite players become elite coaches in that area, and they help develop the next generation of athletes. It's been a virtuous cycle of ever-improving hockey, and now we're at this level that — we can compete with anyone. We're world-beaters right now, which is great to see."

Pennsylvania's success prompted the national program to move its headquarters to Lancaster in 2013. U.S. coach Craig Parnham said the training site was moved from Chula Vista, California, so the players could train together and build camaraderie while being close to family and friends. The facility, about a 90-minute drive from Philadelphia, is appropriately named the "Home of Hockey."

Pennsylvania has the infrastructure to help young players develop — Bam said she had a stick in her hands when she was 3 and began playing at 7. The Pennsylvania group grew up in the culture, which has only become stronger as it has blossomed together.

"I think the competition when you're growing up breeds it," Falgowski said. "I think always playing at a high level against good competition — a lot of us grew up playing against each other. I think 10, 20 years of doing that together really raises the bar, and the competitive spirit within us really wants to challenge each other and play as best we can."

Pennsylvania is so heavily represented at the games, in part, because the sport hasn't caught on to the same degree beyond the east coast.

That could change in the future. Hoskins said USA Field Hockey has grown from a 15,000-member organization to 25,000 in the past five years, with most of the growth in places such as Chicago, St. Louis and Houston and parts of California and Colorado.

"Our mission is to serve our members, grow the game and compete internationally," he said. "By succeeding internationally, by performing in the Olympic Games, by exposing our beautiful sport to more people across America, we would love it to grow, and make it a great way to inspire young female and male athletes to play our game."

WASHINGTON (AP) — Relatives of Jesse Owens and America's 17 other black athletes from the 1936 Olympics were welcomed to the White House on Thursday by President Barack Obama for the acknowledgement they didn't receive along with their white counterparts 80 years ago.

Along with the relatives of the 1936 African-American Olympians, gloved-fist protesters Tommie Smith and John Carlos and members of the 2016 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams met the president and first lady Michelle Obama. Obama congratulated the Rio athletes, thanked Smith and Carlos for waking up Americans in 1968 and praised 1936 Olympians who made a statement in front of Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany.

TOKYO (AP) — An expert panel set up by Tokyo's newly elected governor says the price tag of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics could exceed $30 billion unless drastic cost-cutting measures are taken. That's more than a four-fold increase from the initial estimate at the time Tokyo was awarded the games in 2013.